Domain & Network · Free tool
SSL Checker
This tool connects to your domain over HTTPS and reports the certificate details: whether it's valid, the expiry date, the issuing certificate authority, whether the chain is complete, and whether it covers your domain and www variant. It also checks for mixed content indicators.
SEO, GEO & AEO: why this checklist matters
Who should use this
Site owners, developers managing server configurations, and SEOs auditing site health.
Rankings, AI answers, and citations
HTTPS is a confirmed, if modest, Google ranking signal. More importantly, non-HTTPS sites show security warnings in browsers that destroy user trust and increase bounce rates, which does affect engagement signals. For AI citation, HTTPS is essentially a table-stakes requirement for any site that wants to be treated as authoritative.
What to verify before you ship
- Check certificate expiry date and set calendar reminders 30 days out
- Verify the certificate covers both the bare domain and www subdomain
- Check for chain completeness — an incomplete chain causes warnings in some browsers
- Redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS; don't serve content on both
What you can expect next
Use this workflow on drafts and live URLs. For continuous monitoring across Google and AI surfaces, pair results with Linkstonic SEO audit, AI tracking, and TrueTrace.
Frequently asked questions
Written for search snippets, People Also Ask-style surfaces, and answer engines that quote short Q&A units.
How often do SSL certificates expire?
Standard certificates expire after 90 days (Let's Encrypt) or 1-2 years (paid CAs). 90-day certificates from Let's Encrypt are typically auto-renewed by certbot or equivalent tools. Paid certificates require manual renewal or an auto-renewal service.
What causes an SSL chain error?
The certificate chain includes your site's certificate, intermediate CA certificates, and the root CA. If intermediate certificates are missing from your server configuration, some clients can't verify the chain and show a warning.
Does HTTPS affect rankings?
Yes, Google confirmed HTTPS as a ranking signal in 2014. The effect is modest and acts as a tiebreaker. The bigger impact is on user trust — browsers show security warnings for non-HTTPS sites, which devastates conversion rates.
What is an EV certificate and do I need one?
Extended Validation (EV) certificates include identity verification of the organization. They no longer show green address bar branding in Chrome. Standard DV (Domain Validated) certificates provide the same encryption. EV adds verification, not meaningfully stronger technical security.